If a software error corrupts a computer's data set, or if erroneous data updates the data set, a data protection administrator may restore the data set to a previous uncorrupted state that does not include the corrupted or erroneous data. A backup application executes a backup operation either occasionally or continuously to enable this restoration, storing a copy of each desired data set state (such as the values of its data and these values' embedding in the data set's data structures) within dedicated backup files. When the data protection administrator decides to return the data set to a previous state, the data protection administrator specifies the desired previous state by identifying a desired point in time when the data set was in this state, and instructs the backup application to execute a restore operation to restore a copy of the corresponding backup files for that state to the data set.
A virtual machine is a software implementation of a computer that executes programs like a physical machine. A system virtual machine provides a complete system platform which supports the execution of a complete operating system, and usually emulates an existing architecture. Multiple instances of virtual machines lead to more efficient use of computing resources, both in terms of energy consumption and cost effectiveness, known as hardware virtualization, the key to a cloud computing environment. Similar to other data sets, backup copies are made of virtual machine data sets to enable a restoration of the virtual machine data set in the event of corruption or an erroneous update to the virtual machine data set.